NCAA 4 week recruiting window- article

[3Bsnag]

From SPY, and very interesting to me.

Seems to be relevant to the whole Gold/Region 14 debate, just on the college level. If the fall recruiting window is closed, the only contact/evaluation period would be Jun 4th- Sept 1st (for 2008), making qualifiers, Colorado, and nationals all that more important.



SEALING THE WINDOW


In April, Notre Dame’s Deanna Gumpf, the Big East representative on the NFCA Head Coaches Committee, which now decides NFCA legislation, proposed on the HCC conference call to 1) revise the NCAA Division I recruiting calendar to permit contacts and evaluations from August 1 through the day prior to Thanksgiving, and 2) to increase the number of coaches (from two to three) who may contact and evaluate prospects off-campus at any one time.


In effect, the Big East proposal would restore the former fall recruiting calendar, which allowed for a great many more exposure tournaments in many more regions. The current NCAA four-week window, sought by NFCA, in effect creates four weekends in which increasingly larger tournaments compete for teams and college scouts.


The coaches on the conference call were asked for a straw vote. They voted 23 to 3, with one abstention, against the Big East proposal. They also rejected the Big East proposal to increase the number of coaches who can be off-campus for contact and evaluation.


The Big East coaches nevertheless submitted their proposal for a calendar change to NCAA. We are informed that the Recruiting and Athletics Personnel Issues Cabinet opposed the proposal on July 2, 2008. Reportedly, the cabinet expressed concern that the current legislation has only been in effect for one year and the cabinet believes more time is necessary to assess the impact before considering changes.


Without NFCA backing, the proposal would fail for further consideration by NCAA. SPY read through the agendas for all NCAA committees for their October and January meetings, and found no reference to NCAA Proposal 2008-67.


As though to ensure no NCAA action is taken, the NFCA HCC took a formal vote on the Big East proposal in an August 19 conference call, and rejected the proposal 20-0. The HCC minutes indicate some coaches agreed that the current calendar needed to be tested for a longer period than one year.


However, there was an intimation that the matter will come up for discussion in December when NFCA holds its annual meeting. Remember that NFCA no longer holds an open business meeting where the total membership can vote. Legislative issues are decided in individual caucuses. There will be, however, an open forum.


SPY has renewed its NFCA membership for one more year to ensure that SPY has the privilege of the floor. We are mindful of the assurances from leading advocates of the NCAA rule that the four-week window rule would be “tweaked.” Thus, we are disappointed that specific alternatives were not proposed to the HCC for further consideration; at least none have been indicated in the HCC minutes for September.


Sponsors of exposure tournaments and travel ball organizations should be aware that another recruiting issue will probably surface at the NFCA convention. Some DI head coaches would prefer to ban off-campus fall recruiting in its entirety, eg, contact and evaluation through exposure tournaments. They would, of course, place no restrictions on official and especially unofficial visits during the fall.


The arguments they advance are that this proposal would grant college coaches even more time to spend with their collegiate teams, and save money. One advocate said it would also save travel ball teams money; while there would be some tournaments for the sake of competition, travel ball teams would probably make fewer trips and tend to play more local competition.


To be sure, there have been and will continue to be competitive travel ball tournaments without college coaches in attendance. The Worth Firecrackers winter tournament is a good example. Without question, competitive tournaments benefit the players because they compare themselves with their peers.


But, banning college coach participation in fall tournaments compounds the recruiting problem. Many D1 coaches below the Top 25 have their first exposure to many players at these tournaments. Moreover, these tournaments literally compel all levels of college ball to compete for players. Furthermore, such a ban ignores a salient truth about today’s recruiting, much of which is done by the major programs through unofficial visits, and resulting in ever-younger players giving verbal commitments. The focus of some major programs is now on 14-15 year old girls who will graduate in 2011, and some have already given verbal commitments.


Much like the four-week window, strongly advocated by some major programs, a total ban on contact and evaluation at fall tournaments would only work to the benefit of the larger programs who have extensive outreach and recruiting tenacles.


Regrettably, NFCA does not address the problems created by early verbals. Equally regrettable, the NCAA does not recognize the problem exists because, as president Myles Brand informed SPY, NCAA regulations don’t permit it.
Most lamentably, travel ball has no voice in NFCA decision-making.


Nevertheless, having just about as much chance of success as General Charles George Gordon defending Khartoum, I will go to Marco Island to make the case for travel ball. You could get better odds on the Charge of the Light Brigade.